Three basins, formed by widening the canal at certain places, have been provided for the export and import trade, having a total area of 430 acres; but it is considered that these will not afford sufficient accommodation. Between 1877 and 1882, 5,304,000 cubic yards were excavated, out of a total of about 8,700,000 cubic yards. The working season, however, at St. Petersburg is short, and only one hundred and twenty-five days can be reckoned upon in the year, making an average of 8480 cubic yards per day. Water was admitted into the canal in the presence of the Emperor Alexander III. in November 1883; but the canal was not made available for the passage of vessels until 1884. The canal is reported to have greatly promoted the commercial prospects of the capital. This was much required, as, previous to the construction of the Poutiloff Canal, only vessels of very small size and light draught could ascend the Neva for the purpose of loading and unloading at St. Petersburg, while those of more than very limited draught were compelled to stop at Cronstadt, and discharge or load there. The cost of sending goods from Cronstadt to the capital was calculated at more than the freight from England,[104] without taking into account the loss of time, which often amounted to ten or fourteen days, and sometimes more. The Poutiloff Canal was constructed by the Russian Government, at a cost of about a million and a quarter sterling, and has been thrown open free of tolls. The points A and B on the plan, where warehouse accommodation has been provided, are in communication by rail with all the railways going out of St. Petersburg, and can also be approached by lighters with cargo for transport. It is expected that the canal will cause merchant-ships ultimately to abandon Cronstadt entirely. At the St. Petersburg end of the canal, a Government Commission recommended some years ago, that two basins would be required, each 22 feet deep, and capable of holding 90 steamers and 70 sailing vessels, with a third basin, having a depth of 10½ feet, in order to accommodate the barges arriving from the interior. The cost of these works has been estimated at over a million sterling. There has been a good deal of controversy as to the proper location for the port of St. Petersburg at the end of the canal. The original proposal was to erect the docks and basins at the head of the canal, close to the Poutiloff Ironworks, but the Ministry of Finance is reported to have favoured a project for constructing a port on the opposite side of the river—that is on the right bank—on the ground that it would be much less expensive. But the utility of the canal has already been so greatly proved, that the docks originally projected will be likely to be insufficient before long. About 2500 ships are stated to be annually employed in the foreign, and 700 in the local transport trade of the capital.[105]